


Too Close / Rules

by Fogfire



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 11:24:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16386899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fogfire/pseuds/Fogfire
Summary: Your mother has given you three rules for live - but you break them all





	Too Close / Rules

Your mother might not have been the biggest part of your life, but you do remember the few times she had been present, remember the way she gave you advice - as if she was telling you the greatest secrets the world could offer.

“When you fall in love, there are many risks,” was the last advice she ever gave you, “But I consider three the most important ones. Don’t fall in love with a man that is older than you. Don’t allow yourself feelings for a man you work for. And you might think me silly but if you ever catch the eye of a spy, dear, leave him alone. If you do this, you will do better in life than I ever did.”

You did not really understand, but she smiled as if she knew that you would. When you’re older. Old enough.

It’s the last time you see her and you burn her words into your memory.

Years later, when your talents have already shown and all the secrets of the world are no longer secrets to you, you meet him.

You call him “pretty face” because you feel powerful and invincible, but you aren’t.

He tells you so when he finally decides to bring you in after months and months of him showing up in the coffeeshop you practically live in, glaring at you over a cup of coffee, dropping messages scribbled on napkins into your lap when he leaves.

His name is Nick. Nick Fury.

“I knew your mother,” he says and he’s too young to have worked by her side, but old enough to know her as a spy and not just as a legend. A legend you only learned about when she was already dead.

He doesn’t need much to convince you.

Working for shield means that you’re firmly on the right side of law and justice now, that you get paid every month.

Also he has that way of looking at you that makes you nod and agree without really thinking about it.

First you’re an agent.

Then you’re a special agent.

and then your office is suddenly right next to that of Maria Hill and you meet up with Nick and her at least once a week to discuss and disagree on one topic after the other.

You like this life you’re leading.

You like the job you’re doing.

You like your boss.

When you feel a pang of jealousy at the sight of Maria Hill entering his office for a meeting you’re not invited to, you realize that the last fact was wrong.

You might actually be in love with him after all.

You might actually be in love with a man you work for. Who is older than you. And who happens to be a spy.

You think of your mother’s advice with a dry chuckle and the same old bitter taste on your tongue.

Three simple rules and you manage to break them all in one strike.

-

“I want to quit,” you tell him the next day when you have your own private meeting and the surprise in his eyes is real.

“Why?”

“Because I want to,” you tell him easily, “Because we’ve grown too close for our own safety and well-being. I can take Coulson’s job. New Mexico doesn’t sound that much of a hassle.”

He looks at you before he pulls out a small card and writes something down, moves to slide it over to you but stops on the way, fingers pressed down on the card, his eye locked onto yours.

“You know, your mother gave me an advice, the one and only time we talked face to face,” he reveals.

“Ah…” you say, trying to hide your desire to hear more and failing spectacularly.

He smiles.

“She said there are many risks in our job. The biggest is falling in love. I should listen to three  things when I choose. Never fall in love with a woman younger than me. Nor one that works for me. And never, ever, fall in love with a spy.”

“Sounds like her,” you say, hiding your feelings with a joking tone, “Not that she ever listened to her own advices.”

He smiles and slides the card over.

You grab it, turn it and look down, your face void of any emotion.

“I will pack my things then.”

“I will have a mission report on my desk every Sunday,” he answers and shakes your hand.

It’s a short and simple good bye.

It’s a show, set up for everyone who is willing to look.

5 hours later, when your belongings are on the way to a place that is very, very far away from New Mexico, you park in front of an apartment building and pull out the card Nick had given you.

He has written down two codes.

One to get access to your next mission.

And one to get into his home. The very place he lived in.

The life he led outside of shield.

You know that the moment you step inside is the moment you change your life forever. That you break all the rules once and for all.

A part of you is scared, doesn’t want to disappoint your mother.

But this isn’t about your mother, this is about you.

There’s a smile on Nick’s face when he opens the door for you, as if he hadn’t been all that sure that you’d take the leap and come.

It smells like homemade food and coziness and he leans in for a greeting kiss, moves slow enough for you to step away.

But you don’t.

And when your lips meet for the first time it feels like coming home.


End file.
